Breath: InhaleWelcome to the guide. Please don't go broke following the words of wisdom regarding number of mods. Something about N+1.
So you have a 6th Gen Camaro SS and you're already tired of 455hp.. Sure that's reasonable. I don't know of anyone that drives any car, besides supercars, and says "This car has too much power!" Doesn't happen. So where should you spend your money and how will it effect the car. Let's get started. (I tried to put a link to any part discussed on the right side of the page. Hopefully it helps in the review process.) Factory intakes are meant to be cost effective, and tuned according to multiple engineer's opinions on what's best for the company and the customer. Cost of manufacturing and people's opinions aren't always the best things to influence a component's ability to produce power. Rubber components break-down over time and the internal surfaces of these components aren't always the smoothest. To get an idea of the "Flow" of things, I've hacked together a rough Flow Chart below. Sample Intake Flow Chart
Cold Air IntakesThere is a great opportunity to make more power by simply changing the intake prior to the Throttle Body. Its a very simply bolt on change that takes minutes and provides instant improvements. But which one should you go with?
If you live CA, you need to make sure it is C.A.R.B. approved. Otherwise, weigh your options based on performance and cost. Here's my overview of your options: Flowmaster 615102 - Delta Force Intake Horsepower added: TBD Associated Cost: $$ This is one of the most affordable intakes available for the 6th Gen Camaro SS. Aesthetics are nice and filter cleaning is as convenient as can be. Even though it's an open-top system, I'm interested in this one. (See comments in the K&N Intake section below for pros and cons about open-top systems.) Mishimoto MMAI-CAM8 Intake Horsepower added: TBD Associated Cost: $$$ Mishimoto gets some mixed reviews for this intake. Without seeing the performance first-hand, I can't say for sure, but I believe the fact that the tube is all Silicone plays into the fact that it's not rating as highly as others. I believe other intakes that take this same approach will suffer similar issues unless they make the Silicone intake tube more rigid. I'm not personally interested in this one. I don't have a link to it on the right because I don't support the design logic of the system with a Silicone Tube. Roto-Fab Intake Horsepower added: TBD Associated Cost: $$$$ Roto-Fab has a great reputation with it's customers and the Camaro community. Although this isn't the most affordable intake on the market, it does have one of the highest reputations. Again, this is an open-top system. Due to cost, I'm on the fence about this one. I feel that there are equal or better systems available for less money. Please keep in mind that not all dyno results are equal. Some places report results of open systems with the hood open and some test closed systems with no fans simulating frontal air-pressure on the vehicle. Though this has a high reported level of HP gain, think about the functionality of the system in comparison to others. Cold Air Inductions 501-1100-B Cold Air Intake Horsepower Added: TBD Associated Cost: $$$$ Cold Air Inductions has been making some waves in this segment of the market. So much so that GM itself has re-branded it's product as their own performance part. This is a winner in terms of reputation and technical experience. In order to make parts as a tiered supplier for GM, they have to have excellent Quality control and technical experience. I consider this system an Open/Closed Hybrid. If you look at the rest of the systems, they are either open on top, or closed on top. The ones that are closed on top generally only have one or two areas for air to come in, essentially bottle-necking the system at that point. Cold Air Inductions takes a unique approach in the fact that they open the whole side of the chamber up to the area behind the headlight. No bottle-necks, yet as closed off to the engine bay as possible. I am definitely interested in this one. AirRaid 250-333 Intake Horsepower added: TBD Associated Cost: $$$ This appears to be the most budget-friendly Closed-top system available at the moment. Check-out the link and look closely at the pictures of the system. It looks to be designed very well. I also appreciate the access panel on the top of it which allows you to clean the filter without having to completely remove the box. Though it may not be the simplest to work with, it beats removing the whole box. aFe Power 51-74212 Momentum GT Intake Horsepower added: TBD Associated Cost: $$$$ aFe Power has been in the industry for quite some time now. They've been developing a reputation for interesting aesthetics and great power gains. Again, not the cheapest system on the market, but among the group of the highest gains. This one is high on my list of potential purchases. K&N 63-3092 Intake Horsepower added: TBD Associated Cost: $$ K&N has a great reputation for making intake filters, and most recently intake systems. This is an open top system which is has inherent upsides and downsides. In my opinion, open systems should offer better pricing by having fewer components and less material consumption. The downside of this is the fact that it NEEDS to seal against your hood to provide the coolest intake charge. Given manufacturing tolerances and the fact that hoods can get hot under the sun, having an open systems seems inherently more likely to be inconsistent for overall performance. |
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Breath: Inhale - Throttle BodiesThe next restriction inline for your engine is the Throttle Body. The factory system does the best it can given the design constraints, cost, and supplier willingness to push bounds. Here's another opportunity to free up some power and give yourself an advantage over the competition. Keep in mind that when ordering a ported throttle body, the majority of suppliers will have an additional core charge unless you send them a factory component.
PRAY Performance: Horsepower added: TBD Cost associated: $$ - As of Sept. 2017: $225 (Core Needed) Bang for the Buck and excellent customer support. PRAY Performance has the ability to give you excellent gains with minimal cost and undetectable appearance. Check out his gains HERE. People on the forums have good things to say about what he does. I don't think you can go wrong with choosing PRAY Performance for your Ported Throttle Body needs. VMAX Ported Throttle Bodies: Horsepower added: Up to 8RWHP & 15RWTQ (Claimed) Cost associated: $ - As of Sept. 2017: $150 (Core needed)/$350 (Without Core) Reasonable gains for the cost. This appears to be an affordable way to free up some power. VMAX is one company that sells the throttle body without a core charge as a standard way of purchasing it. A new OEM Throttle body that is subsequently ported and shipped to you without need for a core is $350 on JDP. Click HERE for JDP Motorsports product listing. Tony Mamo - Mamo Motorsports: Horsepower added: 16RWHP & 14RWTQ (Dyno'd) Cost associated: $$$ - As of Sept. 2017: $350.00 (Without Core) See Tony Mamo's Results for the 6th Gen Camaro HERE. The master in charge here at Mamo Motorsports has 1000's of hour experience on the flow bench and has all the expertise necessary to give you an edge over most others. Weapon X Ported Throttle Bodies: Horsepower added: 9-12RWHP (Claimed) Cost associated: $$$ - As of Sept. 2017: $350.00 ($100 Core Charge) Weapon X Motorsports out of Ohio. There's little info easily found for this throttle body, but they have a huge list of related items posted on their website when it's working, so they seem to have a fair understanding of the industry. Katech Ported Throttle Bodies: Horsepower added: TBD No Published Claims Cost associated: $$ - As of Sept. 2017: $259.99 (Core details unknown) Katech has the experience and know-how to get you where you need to go. The website has very little information posted about it. Updates to follow once I've had a chance to review the forums. Katech 103mm Ported Throttle Bodies: Horsepower added: TBD No Published Claims Cost associated: $$$$$ - As of Sept. 2017: $649.99 (Core details unknown) Note: This specific Katech product is NOT for factory intakes. Must be used with MSD Intake or other Ported Intake Manifolds/Supercharger housings. (Getting a tune is a necessity.) If you're looking to protect for the future of a high horsepower build, this is the way to go. You are flowing some serious air if this 103mm Throttle body is still the bottleneck in your system. |
Breath: Inhale - Intake Manifolds
When it comes to aftermarket intake manifolds, the market is generally fairly dominated by one or two brands. The gains from manifolds in general can be quite substantial, but it shouldn't be forgotten that a part with this much influence on the breathing efficiency of the engine should be supported with a proper tune in order to ensure proper A/F ratios.
Holley EFI HI-RAM LT1 Intake Manifold Horsepower added: TBD Cost associated: $$$ This Intake Manifold from Holley has long, in-line runners that essentially take on a ram effect under certain circumstances. There's not a lot of info readily available for this manifold yet, but I'm sure there will be soon enough. I'm also interested to know if the stock hood will still fit. If anyone else already has this manifold, please let the community know if you could still use your stock hood. MSD Atomic 2700 AirForce: Horsepower added: TBD Cost associated: $$$$ The most readily-available bolt on item that you can purchase right away for your Camaro is the MSD Atomic manifold. It is generally well received in the community and the company has a decent reputation within the industry. There are definitely gains that can be seen with this option, but the price is not for the casual tinkerer. PRAY PERFORMANCE: (Ported Intake manifolds and throttle bodies. Can make matched heads as well.) Horsepower added: 17 RWHP / 16 RWTQ (With ported Throttle body as well) Cost associated: $$$ Although I don't have a link that will take you directly to a website that will allow you to purchase this item, PRAY on Camaro 6 forums is producing killer products with killer results. I think the best way to get in touch with him is through Facebook or the Camaro6 forums. www.facebook.com/prayperformance/ I definitely support the work that's being done by PRAY and recommend his products as an alternative to the MSD Atmoic manifold for a couple reason. One, the Atomic Manifold has mixed reviews on product consistency and the customer service doesn't seem to be on par to what PRAY is able to offer with his Niche market focus. Second, all of his parts are hand worked and ported with pride. There's not a manufacturing line that's churning these puppies out. Quality control is of utmost importance to a person like this whose personal reputation is on the line for every piece that he ships. When it's time to me to consider an intake manifold, PRAY will be one of the first people I reach out to. (Maybe he can even port my supercharger manifold when the time comes.) |
Stay tuned for more details. |